


Against the Wall

by RedLacey



Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-19 09:29:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29872623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedLacey/pseuds/RedLacey
Summary: Team Triple Threat finds themselves teaming up with the Toppats against The Wall.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

“You could even say it was the greatest-“ Charles was cut off by an explosion. Henry watched helplessly as the Toppat Orbital Station exploded, with Charles in it.   
“No, Charles!” Henry screamed, hitting his fist against the escape pod door. “No...”   
Henry sat straight up in bed with a yelp. Another nightmare. He had explored all of his possible options as he broke into the bank, stole the diamond, infiltrated the airship, fled the complex, and completed his mission, and he could remember all of the possible endings to his story. There were some good ones, Toppat King, Special Brovert Ops, and his favorite, Triple Threat, which he had stayed in. However, the bad ones, like Toppat Civil Warfare, The Betrayed, and worst of all, Valiant Hero, often came back to haunt him in his nightmares.   
“Henry, are you alright?” Henry glanced over to his bedroom door and saw his roommates and covert-ops partners, Charles and Ellie.   
“Yeah, just a dream. Nothing to worry about,” Henry answered, trying to convince them, and himself, he was fine. They saw through his lie.   
“Are you sure? I heard you screaming,” Ellie replied. Great. His problems were bothering them now. He didn’t want to tell them about the alternate timelines if he didn’t have to. It would only confuse them, and possibly put them in danger.  
“Positive. You can go back to bed if you want.”   
Henry laid awake in bed, afraid to fall asleep and dream his awful dreams again. He eventually drifted off.   
———————————————————————-  
Henry woke up the next morning much better off than he had been earlier in the night.   
“Mornin’ Henry! Ready for the big mission today?” Charles asked as he walked into the living room. Charles was definitely a morning person,  
unlike Henry, who let out a yawn in response.   
“C’mon Henry, maybe give me a bit more enthusiasm!” Charles answered.   
“Yay, big mission,” Henry replied. He was excited, just not in the same way as Charles. First he needed to get something to eat. Ellie walked into the room as well.   
“Morning guys! You good Henry?” She asked. Henry nodded. He felt better since his nightmare earlier. She started making some scrambled eggs, while Henry sipped his tea. They ate some breakfast and headed toward the military base.   
———————————————————————-  
Henry and Ellie chuckled as they went into the hangar. Charles stood next to his Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk, patting it and giving it a pep talk like it was his child. His nine ton, six million dollar child. Henry heard a bit of Charles’ conversation. “You better not get shot or anything today, I just washed and waxed you yesterday!” Henry laughed, and Charles gave him a little glare.   
Charles hopped into the pilot’s seat, while Henry and Ellie took their normal seats on some crates in the cargo area. Charles started his chopper and wheeled it out to the helipad. The blades started spinning and they flew into the sky, giving Henry a mini adrenaline rush. He’d done this plenty of times, but it would never get boring.   
“Let’s go over the plan again,” Ellie said.   
“Okay, so we’re flying to the old Toppat Launch Site, since we got some reports that there were a few members still around. You two will go in and scout around. You can parachute in toward the control tower. I’ll stay in the helicopter, but if you need backup, I’ll be here. Sound good?” Ellie and Henry nodded.   
———————————————————————-  
A few hours later, Team Triple Threat arrived at the former Toppat Launch Site. Henry looked at the vines slowly overtaking the control tower they were about to land at. The jungle was slowly beginning to retake the site. However, it seemed like the process was going slower than normal. Like somebody had been keeping the area cleaned up. Maybe it was just him.   
Ellie handed him a parachute,  
and he took it with a smile.  
“You guys good?” Charles questioned. Ellie answered with a yes. “Alright, be careful.”   
Henry and Ellie dove out of the helicopter towards the control tower.   
“Okay, let’s start by scouting the tower,” Ellie said as they hit the ground. Henry agreed, and they started walking up the tower’s stairs. They reached the top and looked around, but it didn’t seem like there had been any people around in a long time.   
“Hey, guys?” Charles’ voice crackled through Henry and Ellie’s earpieces. “I just realized, wasn’t the airship just kind of parked here? Since nobody in the government had any idea how to fly it? Well, it’s gone!”   
“You’re right,” Henry answered. “Some of the remaining members must have come back for it.”   
“We’ll keep looking around the base for inhabitants, but I think you guys are thinking the same thing as me,” Ellie remarked.   
“The Toppats are back.”


	2. Finally Escaping

“Sven?” Reginald looked up at the “prison guard” next to his cell.   
“Come on, we’ve got to go! I’ll explain as we go out!” Sven answered. Reginald and Right Hand Man followed behind him. Another guard looked over at them in confusion.  
“Cell transfer,” Sven said. The guard nodded. As the trio walked through the prison, Sven explained what had happened.   
“The government found out about the rocket plan days before we were going to launch. Henry Stickmin busted into the rocket and managed to take it over. He sent it to the wall and we crash landed. Almost everyone was captured. However, we revolted and were able to escape. We lost the rocket, but we have most of our members back together. We got the airship and now most of us are on it. Our first priority when we got back together was to come get you two,” Sven explained.   
“Thank you. Now, let’s get out of here!” Reginald said as Sven and another guard, who he now recognized as Mr. MacBeth, handed him and Right Hand Man guns.  
The four Toppats tried to sneak out of the prison, but it wasn’t long before they were discovered.   
“Hey, you’re new right? What are you doing with such important prisoners?” A guard asked Sven and MacBeth. Sven tried to come up with an excuse, but the guard saw right through. “There’s Toppats on the loose!”   
“We need backup!” Mr. MacBeth called into his earpiece as more guards realized what was happening. Reginald watched in awe as Right took on three guards at once. He pulled out his pistol, shooting one in the knee. He hit the other one hard with the butt of his weapon, and spun around to hit the other one as well. All three ended up unconscious or badly injured.   
“Watch out Reg!” Right yelled a warning to Reginald. He spun around and saw a guard behind him. Reginald pulled the trigger of his pistol and got the guard in the shoulder. It looked like he wouldn’t be shooting any time soon. Right gave Reginald a rare smile.   
The Toppats continued to advance through the prison, slowly but surely making their way through. They started making even more progress when Carol Cross and Geoffrey Plumb started taking out some guards from the opposite direction. Eventually, all of the Toppats met up.   
“Are you alright?” Carol asked. Right had a bit of blood on his arm from where a bullet had grazed him, but it was a minor injury.   
They were almost out. They kept heading past guards, taking out any who tried to stop them. After seeing what had happened to the others, most of them just stood by as the Toppats passed them. Reginald started to let his guard down.   
“Look ou’ Reg!” Right yelled to his friend. An officer holding a grenade approached him. Right ran toward his partner in crime, shoving him out of the way. The grenade exploded. Reginald was thrown to the side, but RHM wasn’t as lucky.   
“Right!” Reginald attempted to make his way to his Right Hand Man, blaying on the floor. He crouched down beside his friend, who was bloody and burned.   
“Reg, I-I’m sorry,” Right said as he lost consciousness.   
“Cover me!” Reginald yelled as he picked up his unconscious partner. They sprinted toward the door, making it outside to the airship.   
———————————————————————-  
Reginald immediately headed for the infirmary. Right wheezed in his arms. He looked down at his friend as he walked. His legs were nearly gone, and barely clung to the rest of his body. His right arm was hanging at an odd angle, the bone was likely broken in multiple places. Worst of all, the left side of his face was completely destroyed.   
Reginald entered the infirmary. He looked over to a blond doctor with pink glasses. He didn’t recognize her, she must be new.   
“What can I do?” Reginald asked her as he walked in.   
“Zet him down on ze bed. I can take it from here,” she answered. “It lookz like zome things may need replazed. Iz thiz alright?”   
“Do whatever you have to do,” Reginald answered.


	3. An Ominous Message

Charles flew the Blackhawk into the base. The blades came to a stop as he set it onto the helipad. He wheeled it into the hangar and walked into General Galeforce’s office, alongside Henry and Ellie.   
“Didn’t find anyone?” Galeforce asked.   
“No. But the airship is gone,” Charles replied.   
“Wait, what?!” The general said in surprise.   
“Yes. The Toppats must have come back for it,” Ellie explained.   
“Alright, that’s a problem. However, we have an even worse problem at the moment. We recieved this message while you were gone,” Galeforce answered as he turned a video onto his computer. He turned it around so that Triple Threat could see. The video showed a picture of Dmitri Petrov, warden of a prison complex in Canada, nicknamed The Wall.   
“Hello, General Galeforce. I have recently been informed that two escaped convictz, Henry Ztickmin and Ellie Roze, have recently joined your rankz. Good for you. However, I need them back. They are dangerouz. I’ve been working with the CCC, and they’ve deemed Ztickmin a major threat.  
“I need my prizonerz returned to me. If you refuze to comply, I will be forzed to not only end all diplomatic relationz with your country, but I will alzo declare war. You have been warned, General.”   
“Henry?” Charles looked over to Henry, who stared ahead in shock. “Why would you be a major threat to the CCC?”   
Galeforce inerrupted. “Look, I’ll find a way to get you two out of this. On one condition, you both need to explain why Dmitri, and the CCC for that matter, want you two so bad.” Henry looked up at Galeforce fearfully.   
“It’s not Ellie,” he tried to say. “Ellie didn’t do anything wrong in the time I’ve known her, except escape The Wall with me. The CCC has wanted me for a long time.”   
“Why?” Charles prompted.   
“I,” Henry tried to find the right words. “I don’t know how, but somehow I can see how different options I choose on a mission will affect my future. And sometimes I have chosen those options, and they fail. I’ve died because of it a few times. Every time I die I just start back where I was before I made that choice.”   
“How?”   
“I’m not sure. There are also different timelines, where I’ve made different choices that have worked. There’s one where I joined the Toppats and became the leader with Ellie, and a few where I never met her,” Henry attempted to explain.   
“Wow, Henry, that’s a lot to take in,” Ellie answered.   
“Why does the CCC want you?” Charles asked.   
“I created the multiverse and a lot of chaos. They’ve tried to get me to work with them before, but they’ve always turned me into their little experiment. I hate that. I don’t want to go back!” Henry replied.   
“It’s alright Henry, we won’t let them get you,” Galeforce reassured him. But how? Dmitri promised war if he didn’t get Henry. In the country’s interests, giving Henry up seemed like a good option. However, if Dmitri has control over him, who knew what he could do?   
“You three are excused from any missions this week. This needs to be our priority. How about you head home? I’ll get to work on this,” Galeforce said. The three agreed and headed out.   
———————————————————————-  
“Let’s go get a coffee or something,” Charles suggested as the three got into the car.   
“Sure,” Ellie answered. They drove into town, which wasn’t too far away. They entered the cafe, ordered their drinks, and sat down together.   
“Why didn’t you tell us about this sooner Henry?” Charles asked his friend.   
“At first, when we barely knew each other, I was afraid you’d turn me into the CCC,” Henry explained.   
“We’d never do that!” Ellie said. “But why didn’t you tell us when we got to know you better?”   
“I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me, and you’d think I was crazy! I also didn’t want to put you in danger,” Henry told them.   
“Listen to me, Henry,” Charles said as he and Ellie put a hand on Henry’s. He looked up. “You don’t have to worry about us. We didn’t become covert ops agents by not knowing how to take care of ourselves. And of course we don’t think you’re crazy!”   
“It is confusing, all that’s happened to you, but we’ll figure it out. Together,” Ellie reassured.   
———————————————————————-  
“Dmitri, listen to me,” Galeforce said on his video call with the Russian warden. “You don’t need to declare war on us over one person. We can work this out some other way. I’m just not giving you Henry and Ellie. They may have been convicts, but they are some of my most valuable agents.”   
“Then I’m afraid I have no choize,” Dmitri answered. “This meanz war.”  
“This is ridiculous! We can talk about this!”   
“Goodbye.” Dmitri hung up.


	4. Right Hand Man Awakens

“I had to replaze right arm, legz, and left zide of face,” the doctor, who Reginald now knew was named Dr. Vinshpinsilstien, said as she left the operating room. Reginald winced at the thought.   
“But he’ll be okay, right?” Reginald questioned.   
“He should make full recovery,” Dr. V answered. “Thingz will be different, but he will get uzed to it. He might even be better off with the cyberneticz.”   
“When will he wake up?” Reginald asked.   
“Any time now.”   
———————————————————————-  
Beginning reboot   
Stress level: 32%  
Overall health: 25%  
Right Hand Man blinked open his eyes and tried to sit up. He winced in pain as he did so. He looked to his side, and caught sight of his right arm. He jerked as he saw it, it was metal.   
“Eazy, eazy! No need to worry,” a blonde woman with pink glasses said to Right.   
“What ‘appened?” He asked her. Reginald walked into the room.   
“Right! Are you okay? Can you see me? Do you know what happened?” Reginald asked fearfully.   
“I ‘member we were in prison, an’ a grenade,” Right tried to respond. He was surprised by his own voice. It had a metallic tone. He started to panic a bit. “What ‘appened to my arm?! Why’s my voice like dis?!”   
Reginald started to tear up a bit. It hurt him to see his Right Hand Man in such a panic. If he was in his circumstances, he’d have no clue what to do either.   
“Zome things needed replazed,” Dr. V explained. “Arm, legz, and left zide of faze were irreparable.”   
“Oh,” Right looked at his reflection in the mirror by the bed. His legs and arm were replaced by steel, and half of his skull was replaced by metal, which was bolted in place. His left eye was now a red screen. He looked over to Reginald, who struggled to hold in his sobs.   
“It’s a’ight Reg. We’ll figure it out’,” Right said, trying to convince himself it was the truth. Reginald nodded in response.   
“You can ztand up if you feel ready,” Dr. V said. Right swung a leg over the side of the bed with a wince. He managed to pull himself to his feet. He stumbled forward, but caught himself.   
“Good job. Try to take a ztep,” the doctor said. Right moved a leg forward. It was a strange sensation. He could move them like they were his actual legs, but they were numb. It took some effort, but he was able to walk forward a few steps.   
“You can do it Righty!” Reginald said. Right gave him a little glare. He hated feeling so weak, so useless.   
“If you feel alright, you can go for a walk,” Dr. V said. Right agreed, and headed out with Reginald at his side. They ran into Sven before too long.   
“Right! You’re okay! How are you feeling?” Sven asked, trying not to let himself stare.   
“It’s strange, but I’ll be ‘kay,” Right answered. He suddenly felt strange, and he started to lose his balance. He tried to catch himself, but he fell to the ground, unconscious.  
———————————————————————-  
“I’m thinking once we arrive we should be able to, gah!” Reginald yelled as Henry suddenly smashed into him. Right looked around confused. Where was he? Why did Henry have wings? He looked down, he had cybernetics like he did when he woke up.   
“Henry!” Reginald said. Right felt his right hand detach from his arm, smacking Henry away from Reginald. He didn’t realize he could do that. Had he done that? He was confused, he didn’t seem to be in control of what he was doing.   
“Take him out Right Hand Man!” Right jumped in front of Reginald, who was still on the ground. His hand went back into place.   
“Time for a li’l payback.” Had he said that? What had Henry really done to him? He had locked up some of the Toppat Clan, but he said it as if he had more personal reasons.   
Henry swung his arm, which was robotic like Right’s, and it turned into a blade. Right found himself doing the same thing, but his blade was much larger. Henry charged toward him, and the fight began. Henry appeared to be winning, having his blade at Right’s throat, but he quickly swung his blade up, throwing Henry off of him. He laughed a little at Henry’s small defeat.   
Right ran forward, incredibly fast, and threw Henry out the window. He followed close behind and transformed his legs into a rocket. He didn’t realize he could do that!   
“Time to finish you off,” he said as he pulled Henry into the sky. He swung his blade, throwing him into the air, but Henry fell back toward him, getting his smaller blade in his cybernetic eye.   
Right fell back onto the top of the airship, catching himself with his large blade. He ripped the remaining part of Henry’s destroyed sword out of his eye angrily.   
“You... you! I’m gonna delete you!” He screamed, charging up a massive ball of red energy. He threw it toward Henry, but he destroyed it with his own small, green ball. It flared up around Right, turning him into nothing more than ash and charred steel. Henry ran toward him, or what was left of him, and threw a kick to what was remaining.  
Right found himself watching from a distance. He had no clue what was going on. Was he dead?   
He saw as Henry stapled Reginald to the wall. Reg responded by shooting Henry when his back was turned.   
“Looks like we’ll be sharing this last ride together!” He laughed. The airship collided with the Toppat Rocket. He heard the screeches of metal colliding, and the screams of the members inside both.   
RHM looked over to Reginald and Henry once again. Reginald was slumped over, and he thought he was dead until he heard him speak.  
“Well, you got us. Was it... worth it?” Reginald slumped over again, now truly dead.   
———————————————————————-  
“Reg!” Right screamed as he came to.   
“It’s okay, it’s okay! I’m right here.” Reginald answered as he saw Right bolt awake.   
“How long was I ou’?” Right Hand Man asked.   
“About an hour. Do you feel alright? Do you know what exactly happened?” Reginald responded.   
“I’m a’ight. I know I blacked ou’. Then I ‘ad some sort o’ dream or somethin’. I’m not sure, it was strange,” Right said.   
“The important thing is, you’re alright now. Dr. Vinshpinsilstien said she added a few little surprises into your cybernetics, like a rocket. Want to go give it a try?” Reginald asked. Right nodded, he’d do anything to get what just happened off his mind. The two headed out of the infirmary.


	5. Recruiting the Toppats

“Wait, you did what?!” Ellie exclaimed as General Galeforce explained his plan.   
“I know, it sounds ridiculous. But the Toppats and the Government have a common enemy, The Wall. The Toppats have a lot of power, and we do too. They were almost able to launch a rocket into orbit on their own! If we team up with them, The Wall will have no chance.”   
General Galeforce was always right. Triple Threat knew this. But teaming up with the people they had always been against? This was insanity!   
“I trust you,” Charles said. “You’ve always had a plan. If you think this is what we need to do, we’ll do it.”   
“Ellie, Henry?” Henry thought of the Toppat King timeline. If he’d worked well with the Toppats then, he could do it now too, right?   
“Fine, let’s do it,” Henry answered.   
“Good. I do believe this will work out. I’ll send them a message.”   
———————————————————————-  
“Chief! Right Hand Man! Could you please come here?” Sven called over the PA of the Toppat Airship. He had been piloting the airship so that Reginald and Right could do some other work, but he recieved a message from the US government.   
“What is it Sven?” Reginald asked as he and Right entered the cockpit.   
“I’ve recieved a message from the US Government!” Sven replied.   
“Play it,” Right suggested. Sven hit a few buttons, and projected the video onto a screen.   
“Hello, Toppat Clan. This is General Galeforce of the US Government. There is something I’d like to discuss with you in person, regarding The Wall. If you’re interested, I’d like if you could please come and discuss this formally. Thank you, I hope to see you soon.” General Galeforce was shown on the screen.   
“The Wall?” Reginald asked as he looked over to Sven and Right. Sven groaned, thinking of the place he was locked up at for a while. “What do you guys think?”  
“We should go meet with the Government. We’ll tell the Clan, but we should at least give them a chance to tell us everything that’s going on before we make any decisions,” Sven suggested.   
“Agreed,” Right Hand Man said.  
———————————————————————-  
The General looked up at the sky, keeping an eye out for the giant red airship. Eventually, he saw it beginning to descend through the clouds.   
“Right on time,” he said to himself. “I hope this works.”   
The airship landed in the open field next to the base. Galeforce and Team Triple Threat walked out to meet them. Reginald Copperbottom, his Right Hand Man, and Sven Svensson exited the airship from the side.   
Henry found himself staring at Right. He wasn’t supposed to have cybernetics in this timeline!  
“Nice setup you’ve got here,” Reginald said, trying to make conversation.   
“Thank you. You don’t have a bad setup yourself,” Galeforce replied, looking toward the airship. “Follow me.”   
The group entered the office.   
“I’ve called you here today to discuss an alliance between our groups. I know we’ve definitely had our differences in the past, but I’m hoping we could put that behind us,” Galeforce said. “Lately, The Wall has threatened the US. I know you have a history with them, so I was hoping you would be willing to ally with us against them. We’d be able to give you something in return too, of course.”   
Reginald looked to his team.   
“What could you give us in return?” He asked.   
“It’s up to you, but I had an idea. What would you think of being your own, independent nation?”   
“What do you mean by that?” Sven asked.   
“The Toppat Clan could become its own country, in a way. It would allow you to do just about anything you wanted in the name of your government,” Galeforce replied. Reginald looked to the rest of his team, who mouthed a silent “no”.   
“Maybe not that in particular, but I do see that an alliance could do us some good. I need to talk it over with the rest of the Clan, but I would be interested,” Reginald explained. “Would you like to have dinner with us on the airship? You could bring some of your soldiers with you.”   
“I’d love to, thank you.”   
———————————————————————-  
The general, Henry, Ellie, Charles, Rupert Price, Dave Panpa (he’d joined the government after being freed), Victoria Grit, and June July boarded the airship alongside the three Toppats they had met earlier.   
“Right this way,” Reginald beckoned for them to follow. They entered a giant room, the cafeteria. Many Toppats lingered around.   
“Carol, could you please ask the copilot to take us into the air? I’d like to show our guests the view,” Reginald suggested. Carol nodded and walked toward the bridge. He motioned for the Government guests to get some food from the buffet line, and grabbed a phone off the wall.   
“Will all members please report to the cafeteria? We have some guests I’d like to introduce.” Reginald went to get some food as members began to file in and take a seat.   
“Right Hand Man,” Reginald nudged his partner in crime, looking down at his plate. “That’s way too much chocolate cake.”   
“Its only one plate,” Right protested.   
“A dinner plate!” Reginald replied.   
“Exac’ly. Not that much.” Reginald sighed in distaste at his friend’s answer.   
“Have you had any more blackouts lately?” He asked.   
“Once or twice,” Right tried not to raise too much attention to the issue. He occasionally blacked out, ever since he got his cybernetics, but they weren’t the only times he had those horrible visions. He was also having nightmares about it. They were so real. He almost wondered if they were real, in some other world, some other timeline.   
“You can tell me these things, Right.”   
“Thanks Reg, but not now. We ‘ave company.” He smiled. While Reginald was distracted, he put another slice of cake on his plate.   
“Right Hand Man!”   
Meanwhile, Triple Threat was talking to Sven.   
“Sorry I punched you and tied you up,” Henry apologized.  
“You were just doing your job,” Sven answered.   
Dave looked around the airship as he got his food with Rupert. He had some bad memories here. The Toppats had been pretty good to him, considering he was their prisoner, but being locked up had been hard for him mentally. It had messed with him a lot, but he was determined to move forward.   
Victoria Grit and Carol Cross had started talking.   
“So, what’s it like to be a Toppat?” Victoria asked.   
“It’s probably as much work for us as it is for you to be in the military. But we’re a tight-knit group. We’re like a family. Joining the Toppat Clan was the best thing that ever happened to me,” She answered. She looked over to Sven. “For Sven as well.”   
“How do you know Sven?” Victoria questioned.   
“I found him while we were on a mission. His parents abandoned him, and I took him in.”   
June July and General Galeforce sat together, as always. They had been married for ten years now. Mr. MacBeth talked to them as they waited for Reginald to make an announcement. Charles was sitting with his friends, but June glanced over occasionally. Having friends was a newer addition to his life. Living in the military with his parents hadn’t made making friends an easy task.   
“May I have your attention please?” Reginald stood up in the middle of the room. “I’d like to introduce our guests.” He beckoned for the Government crew to stand, and they did.   
“Now, the Government has offered an alliance with us. I’d like to take a vote. Who would be in favor of allying with them?” His voice echoed throughout the room. Henry was impressed by how many people rose their hands.   
“868 votes, Reg,” Right remarked. “Just about everyone.”   
“It’s decided then. We will ally ourselves with the Government.”


	6. Training Together

“So remember Triple Threat?” Reginald asked Right Hand Man and Sven as they headed toward the bedrooms. Right nodded.   
“I set up a training session with them for tomorrow. They’re the best in the Government, and we’re the best in the clan, so I thought it would be nice to practice together,” Reginald explained.   
“Looking forward to it. What time?” Sven replied.   
“5 a.m.” Reginald answered. Sven sighed. It was so early!  
———————————————————————-  
“So where are we headed?” Henry asked as he got in the car.   
“It’s an older warehouse about 10 minutes from here,” Ellie replied. They sat in silent for a few moments.   
“I wonder how Right Hand Man’s cybernetics work?” Charles asked, trying to make conversation. “Knowing the Toppats, they probably made it so he can do all kinds of stuff.”   
“If it’s how it was in another timeline, then yes, he can do some cool stuff with it,” Henry answered.   
“So he had cybernetics in other timelines too? How’d he get them then?” Ellie wondered. Henry stared off, looking guilty. “Oh.”   
They soon arrived at the abandoned building. Charles pointed out that there was a red escape pod next to some bushes. The Toppats were already there.   
“Thanks for meeting us here. I think if we combine our skills with yours, we could all make a pretty good team!” Reginald said enthusiastically.   
“Agreed. What should we do first?” Ellie asked.   
“I was thinking we could do some shooting,” Sven said. He was good at that. Together they went to set up some targets.  
“Where’s your gun?” Charles asked Right. He jumped as he fired a laser with his eye. “Wow.”   
Right chuckled. Team Triple Threat was good, there was no doubt about it, but with his new cybernetics, he had an advantage. He had almost been afraid of himself when he first woke up, he was so scared that he’d accidentally fire a laser or something. Other people were afraid of him too. Now he was doing better than ever. He still missed the ability to just sneak into a room unnoticed, there was no doing that when half your face is metal, but overall, the pros of having his cybernetics outweighed the cons.   
Suddenly, Right felt himself losing his balance, and his consciousness. He crumpled to the ground.   
———————————————————————-  
“Henry! You are hereby dethroned from your position as leader as the Toppat Clan! I’m going to want that hat back...” Reginald approached Henry, who stood on a small balcony off the side of the airship. Right gasped as Henry threw Reginald off the balcony.   
He jumped into action, flying off the platform toward Reginald. He scanned his surroundings, looking for his leader. RHM flew in circles, looking and listening for any sign of Reginald. He nearly started to panic. Where was he?! He was running out of time!   
“Riight!” Right turned around and spotted Reginald out of the corner of his eye. He swooped toward him as fast as he could, grabbing him.   
“Thank you, Right. I would’ve been gone if it weren’t for you!” Reginald exclaimed as he tried to catch his breath.   
“Don’ worry ‘bout it,” Right replied. They flew higher, back toward the airship to deal with their new problem. Suddenly, Right spotted a bright red escape pod headed toward them.   
“Right!” Reginald yelled. He tried to move, but he couldn’t get out of the way in time. Right felt an explosion of pain as he barreled into the escape pod.   
‘Reg, I’m sorry. I saved you, only to fail you again,’ Right thought as he lost consciousness.   
———————————————————————-  
“I’m sorry Reg!” Right cried out as he woke up again. He looked around, and saw Reginald looking right at him.   
“Are you alright?” Reginald asked.   
“Course,” Right responded, as if nothing bad had just happened.   
“I don’t think so, Right. Do you want to tell me what’s going on?” Right sighed. He wasn’t going to win this.   
“Lately when I blackou’ or sleep, I’ve ‘ad these, visions. They seem really real. They’re all diff’rent, bu’ I normally die. Sometimes you too. It’s like there’s diff’rent ways things coulda played out, and these are some o’ them,” Right tried to explain. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Sven, Henry, Charles, and Ellie were still there. He would’ve preferred to talk about this privately, but he didn’t have much of a choice.   
“Sorry to interrupt, but what was this dream about?” Henry asked. “I think I could help you.”   
“You were leader o’ the Clan. Ellie showed up and said ya betrayed ‘er. We tried to throw ya overboard, but then you threw the Chief off,” Right answered.   
“Toppat Civil Warfare,” Henry said the name he had given to this timeline. “You remember the timelines I created.”   
“Timelines?” Reginald asked.   
“I don’t know how, but I can make different choices that affect the outcome of my life and others’. Sometimes I join the Toppats and sometimes I stay with the Government, like in this timeline. Those choices created the multiverse, which connects the different timelines. I can switch between them if I want to. That’s why The Wall and the CCC wants me. They want to use me,” Henry explained.   
“I see,” Sven said. “So Right can see the timelines like you do?”   
“I guess,” Right answered. “Do you ever blackou’ too?”   
“I have once or twice,” Henry explained. They stood in awkward silence.   
“This has been a nice conversation,” Ellie remarked. “But I’m starving. Let’s go get some breakfast. I know a really good place in town.”


	7. Traffic Jam!

“Alright everyone, hop in!” Charles said as he finished putting up the folding back seats of the SUV. He jumped into the driver’s seat and turned it on.   
“Could you please move over Right? Your metal arm’s jabbing into my side. It hurts!” Sven laughed.  
“‘Kay,” Right answered, and sat a bit closer to Reginald.   
“Now your arm is digging into me!” Reginald yelped.   
“At least that’s the normal one!” Sven replied.   
“Someone could sit in the front,” Ellie chimed in from the back row. Sven opened the door and got into the front seat. Once he buckled his seatbelt, Charles started driving toward the town.   
“Have you stolen anything interesting lately?” Charles asked.   
“We haven’t done too much lately. Just trying to get back into the swing of things after we get out of prison,” Reginald replied.   
“How’s that been going?” Ellie questioned. She was interrupted by Charles.  
“Oh, it looks like there’s a traffic jam up ahead,” Charles said as he slowed the car to a stop. There was a pretty decent line of cars, and it was increasing by the minute.   
“Looks like we’ll be here a while,” Henry remarked. He suddenly caught a flash of white outside his window. He didn’t have time to say anything before a car rammed into the left side of theirs.   
Henry was thrown to the side. Fortunately, his seatbelt caught him. A shard of glass grazed his cheek as he heard the airbag activate. The car was flung to the right.   
“Is everyone a’ight?” Right asked as the car skidded to a stop. He caught a glimpse of the other vehicle speeding off. It lacked a license plate.   
Everyone replied with a “yes”, thankfully.   
“I’ll call the general.” Charles pulled out his phone. Right opened up the side door and stepped out.   
“Right? Where are you going?” Reginald questioned.   
“After them,” he answered. Reginald sighed. He considered arguing, but he knew RHM would win. He could take care of himself.   
“Fine, but be careful. Don’t get too close, just find out who it is and get back,” Reginald said. Right nodded, and flew in the direction the car had went in.   
Right took to the sky, scanning his surroundings for any sign of the white vehicle. Unfortunately, white is a popular color when it comes to cars and trucks, so it took a long time. Finally, Right spotted the one that had hit them.   
Right swooped towards the car, noticing the people staring as they noticed him. It wasn’t everyday you saw someone with a rocket for legs, after all. He ignored them and tried to get a good look at the driver.   
The driver was wearing a hat with The Wall’s distinct insignia on it. RHM suddenly realized what was happening. This “accident”, and maybe the traffic jam in the first place, was all planned. The Wall must have been behind this! The driver likely was supposed to badly injure the occupants of their vehicle, but when they were alright, he probably got nervous and sped away.   
Right turned around and headed back to their SUV, where multiple government soldiers were now standing. He landed, gaining the attention of anyone in the area that wasn’t already focused on the large group.   
“So?” Sven questioned.  
“I’m thinkin’ The Wall may be behind dis. There was a guy wearin’ one o’ their ‘ats. Musta been a guard or somethin’,” Right explained his recent discovery.   
“That would make sense,” Galeforce said. “The Wall wants Henry, and I’m sure they wouldn’t mind having the rest of you as well.”   
“True,” Ellie remarked.   
“I’d appreciate it if you could stay around the base and the airship. That way you shouldn’t have any more incidents with The Wall,” General Galeforce explained.   
“Alright, that’s a good plan,” Reginald answered. He looked a bit disappointed though. Right had noticed that he’d been looking forward to having a somewhat normal life for a while.   
“We should head back to the airship. We can get something for breakfast there,” Sven suggested.   
“What about the car? There’s no way we’re driving this,” Charles remarked.   
“I’ll drive you back to the escape pod. We can get the car towed,” Galeforce said.   
———————————————————————————  
“So how many different timelines are there?” Reginald asked as he took a seat next to the team in the airship’s cafeteria.   
“There’s sixteen main ones. In those, I made choices that eventually led to things working out, but some of them were still pretty bad. Besides those, there are a lot of timelines where I made the wrong choices and failed. All together, there’s hundreds,” Henry explained.   
“How did I ge’ cyberne’ics in da o’er timelines?” Right asked as he took a sip of his Valvoline.   
“Well...” Henry stuttered. “When I infiltrated the airship, you tried to stop me, of course. I had to fight you. You put up a good fight, and I had to use some bottle rockets. I didn’t expect them to do as much damage as they did...”   
“Oh,” Right answered. He looked down at his robotic right hand, which he had absent-mindedly clenched into a fist. “I see. You did wot you ‘ad to do.”   
Ellie, noticing how awkward the conversation was getting, changed the subject. “How did you join the Toppats?”   
“I lived with my parents, who were also criminals, in Sweden. They didn’t treat me very well, since I didn’t seem to be ‘useful’ to them. The Toppats tracked them down, since they were rivals, and my parents left me. Carol Cross found me and took me in. Eventually I became a member,” Sven said.   
“I was in college and desperately needed money. I tried to rob a jewelry store. The Toppats were trying to steal from the same place, and they made me come back with them so I wouldn’t call the police. They gave me the option to be a member, and I accepted,” Reginald explained.   
“Right?” Ellie questioned. He sighed.   
“You don’t have to,” Reginald said to his friend.   
“Maybe one day, but not yet,” Right replied. A look of hurt crossed the organic side of his face.   
“Okay, well, I was a thief like Henry, and I was just trying to make enough money to get by. I stole a gem called the Omanian Opal. I was caught by the police, and they tried to get me to take down a small group of criminals. I did, and got pardoned, but The Wall captured me anyway. Henry and I were able to break out together, and we allied with the Government,” Ellie told her story next in an attempt to change the subject again.   
Charles told them his story last. “My parents were killed after you ransacked the town I lived in-“   
Reginald interrupted. “That was when Terrance was leader!”   
“I know. You’ve been a much better leader than he was, from what I know about you guys. You’re not so bad now. Dad and Mom, I mean General Galeforce and Captain July, found me on my own and adopted me. I started flying when I was nine and decided to join the military when I was old enough. Eventually I met Henry, and then Ellie,” Charles said.  
Reginald grinned at the compliment. “Thanks. You Government soldiers aren’t so bad yourself.”


End file.
